


Camaraderie

by Annwyd



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-07 01:19:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3155504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annwyd/pseuds/Annwyd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of a shared mission, Bethany and Fenris share a different kind of moment as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Camaraderie

She can still taste dust in her mouth; she can still smell blood in the air. Taking down the Tevinter slavers who had made a home in the old Grey Warden outpost was no easy feat for one mage. They had mages of their own, and hard-bitten mercenaries to back them up. But Bethany, too, had help of her own.

She sets down her quill and lifts her gaze from the report to the Warden-Commander. Across the room they've shared at the inn, he sits in the window, reading an old book of stories by moonlight. No, it would be more accurate to say that he perches. Even now, some tension never leaves his shoulders. Some caution keeps his back held up straight.

"Thank you for coming with me, Fenris," Bethany says. She regrets it immediately. The words seem dull and clumsy, an inadequate repayment for his assistance on this quest. Was she ever better than this at expressing her feelings? It's been too long, this life of holding everything inside.

But he merely pauses and lowers the book. "There's no need to thank me, Bethany. Truth be told, I quite enjoyed it."

"So did I," she says softly, measuring out the three words in the hopes that something real will come through in them.

Now he sets the book down by the window and turns to face her. "I was unaware you shared some grudge against the Imperium," he says. "Or their slavers. This was merely a mission for you, wasn't it?"

She is not afraid of voicing her feelings now. It's merely tiring to do so, when there's so much pain caught up in them most of the time. So she says without fear, "No, Fenris. A mission is scouring the bloody Deep Roads for darkspawn. Retrieving some wretched old artifact in the dark. You aren't there on a mission."

But she was too bold this time, and he lowers his gaze. "I...see."

What she could not make herself say hovers between them. The smiles they exchanged on their way to the outpost. The simple meals shared by lantern-light. The slightly sarcastic jokes he passed along to her. The affectionate warmth of a companionship Bethany has nearly forgotten. "I'm sorry, Fenris. Don't mind me." It must have been different for him. He was merely traveling with some mage, some reminder of his own pain, to achieve a goal.

He stands, though. His eyes have boldness in them. "There's nothing to mind," he says. "You don't offend me."

"I'm a mage," she says tiredly. "And a tainted one."

"A kind one," he says. "One strong of heart. Bethany, these missions you speak of." He takes a step forward.

She rises, too, in her surprise. "Fenris?"

"Surely the Wardens have something better they can assign you?" He tilts his head, he smiles a little. "Some party, perhaps, where you dance with noblemen..."

She laughs in shaky bemusement. "What? Where does _that_ come from? What a silly image..."

He ducks his head, suddenly embarrassed. "Your pardon, Bethany. I merely thought...you belong somewhere with more light."

Bethany swallows the taste of dust and tries to banish the smell of blood. "And fish belong in the sea, but they end up on our plate instead. Life is what it is, Fenris. 'Nobody asks for their fate,' you told me that once."

He lifts a hand; he reaches out to her. She blinks and can't help but think that without his gauntlets on, he looks almost fragile. "I am sorry," he only says after a moment, and he lets his arm drop back to his side.

And somehow, she finds herself smiling. "There's light here," she says.

He blinks.

"Stand still," she says, and he obeys without thinking as she closes the distance between them.

When she kisses him, he takes only an instant to kiss back. He does not taste of dust or blood, and with his lips on hers she breathes him in instead of constant bitterness.


End file.
